The female athlete

As we approach the year 2000, women's participation in competitive athletics has become the norm rather than the exception. With this increased sports participation, the physician needs to be prepared to care for female athletes and their special needs. The growth in women's sport participation occurred as a result of legislation passed in 1972 called Title IX.(15) This legislation essentially states that any secondary or collegiate school that receives federal assistance must offer equal athletic opportunities to men and women, requiring equity in areas of participation, scholarship, dollars, and athletic benefits. Since the passage of this legislation, high school and collegiate female athletic participation has increased more than 600% to a total of 1.9 million female athletes.(20) Women are now a major power in competitive sports. More than 3000 female athletes participated in the 1992 Olympics. A 27% increase occurred at the 1996 Games, with more than 3800 female athletes participating. The Atlanta 1996 Olympics saw a large amount of media coverage focused on female events. The gold medal women's soccer match attracted more than 64,000 spectators. US women won gold medals in team soccer, softball, gymnastics, and basketball, and they dominated the track and field events. World-class female athletes are now appearing on modeling runways, women's magazine covers, and billboards. This media attention and success of female athletes has shown that athletic women can be attractive and feminine and yet be strong, powerful, and fiercely competitive. This article presents and discusses the most important issues specific to the female athlete. It is our goal that the sports medicine physician will have a better understanding of the pertinent issues regarding the female athlete, so that he or she may be better able to care for these athletes in competition and in training.